The Great God Pan

Machen's novella The Great God Pan is often cited as one of Lovecraft's most notable influences. In it, Dr. Raymond's ultimate goal is to devise a way to open the mind of man so that he may experience all the world has to offer. He calls this "seeing the great god Pan". After much study of the human mind, he devises an experiment that involves minor brain surgery. He performs this experiment on a young woman named Mary, but when she awakens she is terrified and mentally crippled. Years later another woman, the beautiful but sinister-looking Helen Vaughan, is reported to have caused a series of mysterious happenings in a small, nameless town.... Public Domain (P)2016 Lamp of Trismegistus